Pharmacy Talk

with Tania Adams

Sore Throat?

Not sure if your Sore Throat is viral or bacterial?

You can have a FREE sore throat consultation at Unichem Manly Pharmacy. Did you know that 8 out of 10 sore throats in adults are because of a virus that can’t be treated with antibiotics?

Antibiotics are important medicines that are used to treat serious bacterial infections and when used correctly,they save lives. Unfortunately, they are often taken when they aren’t needed and are frequently being overused to treat simple illnesses including sore throats. In fact, over the last 10 years, antibiotic use in New Zealand has dramatically increased.

Overuse of antibiotics is contributing to a rapid rise in antibiotic resistance. This basically means, the more we use antibiotics, the more opportunities we give the bacteria to adapt and fight back against them. If overuse of antibiotics continues, they’ll be less effective in treating diseases in the future when we really need them.

To help this problem, Unichem Manly Pharmacy is providing a quick, free consultation service with testing for people with sore throats.* This is great news if you aren’t sure if your sore throat is bacterial or viral and whether you need to visit your doctor for antibiotics.

Treating a Sore Throat

Depending on how bad you throat hurts, you can find different options to help:

Betadine throat gargle kills most bacteria and viruses implicated in sore throats within 30 seconds and therefore may help if you have an infected sore throat. This gargle is best used the moment you feel a sore throat coming on to treat and relieve your symptoms.

Throat lozenges are a great way to help with pain symptoms in your throat. There are a selection of formulations. Lozenges containing an anti-inflammatory medication will help to relieve inflammation and pain. Some lozenges also contain an anaesthetic to numb the pain of a sore throat which can be helpful when you sore throat is causing you a lot of pain.

Sore throat sprays are designed to deliver the medicine to the back of your throat and make it easier to apply the medicine a little deeper down your throat.

Taking paracetamol or ibuprofen can help with the pain of a sore throat and also ease other aches and pains.

The old lemon and honey warm drink trick never seems to fail me. Hot soups and warm drinks can have a soothing effect. Similarly, frozen food, such as ice blocks can numb that pain.

You can try increasing your body’s immune defences naturally. Research shows that echinacea, zinc and vitamin C and D all have some contribution toward helping to boost your immune system to fight against viruses such as colds and flus.

Be sure to see our pharmacist or your doctor if you have: a sore throat lasting more than a few days

• difficulty swallowing

• enlarged tonsils or tonsils have pus on them

• a high temperature above 39C

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• swelling in your neck negative